Almond Shaped Terracotta Lamp with Cross Relief

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Description: 

Almond Shaped Terracotta Lamp with Cross Relief

terracotta: mold-made, medium fine with mica. Munsell: 2.5 YR 5/6 red
height 4.1 cm
length 8.4 cm
width 6.4 cm

Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Bogue Lamp Collection, Lamp ID #324, PSU 014bis (25)

 

Professor Anne Nicgorski, Willamette University, cited with permission

The lamp is of a shortened almond shape, being almost circular. The handle is a lump which extends from the back edge of the rim to the raised edge of the centrally pierced discus. The design in the discus is worn beyond recognition but does resemble the form of a Maltese cross. This wick hole is of medium size. Shape: Almond-shaped lamp with flat base; rounded but slightly carinated body profile; broad concave discus with central fill hole at pointed end of body; short upright unpierced pyramidal handle opposite nozzle. Decoration: Possible buff slip. Relief decoration on discus consisting of equal-armed cross with flanged ends. Inscriptions: None. Condition: Intact except for minor chips around wick hole; heavily burnt, especially by wick hole; very worn.

Protocol: 
Portland State University Middle East Studies Center - Public Access
Community: 
Portland State University Middle East Studies Center
Category: 
Ceramics, Utilitarian Objects
Keywords: 
Lamp
Rights: 
Image reproduced with permission from Portland State University Middle East Studies Center. The institutions that house the specific Medieval Portland objects ultimately hold the rights to their image and reproduction; the images are provided here as a courtesy by those institutions and are for non-profit, educational use only.